Last December, I shared with FIFI readers how I am one of 51,000 Canadians contributing to science and knowledge by participating in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. In addition to the information I found about calcium depletion in bone mass, I also found some interesting data on hearing loss, depression, heart disease and dementia.
Last week CBC news reported on more promising results relating to reducing the risk of dementia as well as stroke and depression. One of the researchers interviewed by the CBC, Lindsay Wallace, highlighted the most influential factors that affect dementia, stroke and depression: “Physical activity is gonna lower your cholesterol, lower your blood sugar, lower your blood pressure. It affects all these different pathways that lead to age-related disease.” An assistant professor at Dalhousie University who studies dementia and frailty, Wallace was also a co-author in another study that identified 26 population health interventions. Along with individual action, she said, “there has to be a structural and societal change that mirrors that.”
Let’s take a look at what the study found. To start, here are four factors that will help reduce your risk for dementia, stroke, and depression (emphasis added to highlight fitness-related factors):
- Challenging your brain by reading or doing puzzles
- Engaging in moderate or high levels of physical activity
- Ensuring your life has purpose
- Reducing or eliminating alcohol (drinking less than one drink a day is way better than downing one to three)
The meta analysis also identified 11 factors that would increase your risk for those issues:
- High blood pressure
- Kidney disease
- Smoking
- High blood sugar
- Poor or disrupted sleep
- High body mass index
- Hearing loss
- Depressive symptoms
- General stress or stressful life events
- Pain
- High cholesterol
Of the 11 factors listed above, six can be directly mitigated by regular exercise. Ideally, you want to integrate regular activity every day. This doesn’t mean you have to train for a marathon seven days a week, but if you move your body intentionally three to five days a week — walking, swimming, running, dancing, weight lifting, etc — you can improve your sleep, elevate your mood, and reduce the impact of stress on your body. Movement will also help keep your blood flowing (blood pressure, cholesterol, and overall cardiac health) and help your body process food more efficiently.
What I found most interesting were these two factors, which can have either protective or detrimental impacts:
“Diet: a diet high in vegetables, fruit, nuts, fish and dairy decreased your risks of developing a brain-related condition, but a diet high in red meat, sugary beverages, candy and excess salt increased the risk.
Social engagement: a large social network was found to be good for the brain, while loneliness or isolation was bad for it.”
From a fitness point of view, a nutritious diet helps fuel our bodies and our brains so we can do the things we want to do while a strong social network keeps us connected. We can work out with friends, walk our dogs with neighbours, or just sit and enjoy the view with our loved ones.
What stood out for me was that most of these factors are manageable with a measure of agency, or control, or decision-making with respect to our health. We may not be able to eliminate the genetic cards we are dealt, but we can make better choices with respect to reasonable interventions. However, many people live with food insecurity, live in unsafe, inadequate housing, or prioritize heat and light bills over other costs. Their ability to mitigate those critical factors is limited. That is why we need to make sure our health and social infrastructures are properly financed and maintained.
In public health, we talk a lot about the determinants of health—the range of personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence individual and population health outcomes. These include things like income, education, housing, employment, access to healthcare, social supports, and environmental exposures. While personal behaviours like exercise and diet matter, they do not exist in a vacuum.
For example, someone living in a walkable neighbourhood with access to green spaces is more likely to engage in regular physical activity than someone living in an area with poor infrastructure and safety concerns. Likewise, it’s easier to eat a healthy diet when nutritious food is affordable and available in your community. This is why addressing the root causes of poor health must go beyond individual lifestyle choices and take into account the structural conditions in which people live.
This research reinforces something we already know but often overlook: health is not just about biology or personal responsibility. It is also deeply shaped by the world around us. If we want to help more people age well and reduce their risk for conditions like dementia, stroke, and depression, we need to build environments that support healthy living for everyone. That means investing in housing, transit, food systems, community centres, and preventive care—alongside promoting movement, mental engagement, and connection. Just saying eat better, work out more, and have lots of friends isn’t enough.